Kitchen Witchery – Magical Cookery

The kitchen is considered by many to be the heart of any home but sadly with today’s modern busy lifestyles many people had stopped spending as much time not only preparing delicious and healthy home cooked meals but also in taking time to share these with their friends, family and other loved ones.

However in more recent times people have been growing more aware of the importance of cooking and eating healthy natural foods and are returning to cooking more meals at home from scratch. Kitchen witchery is a very versatile form of magic that can be incorporated into this day to day cooking and other daily ways of life such as gardening, cleaning and decorating your home.

As well as learning various recipes and about the nutritional and medicinal properties of the foods that they cook with, a kitchen witch may also be interested in creating their own items using various handicrafts such as sewing, home décor, jewellery making and creating homemade natural bath and beauty items. The recipes and other instructions used by a kitchen witch do not need to be specially written to be magical in order to be effective. As with all magic your intent is incredibly important and will greatly influence the outcome of your workings. You can chose recipes that already contain ingredients that correspond to your needs or in many cases ingredients can be varied or added to work in many situations. For example herbal teas are easily made at home and have a wide range of uses or bread and cakes can be baked containing relevant herbs, spices, seeds, nuts or fruits. In the same way that items such as elements, crystals, colours and plants have certain correspondences in magic, foods and individual ingredients also do and these can be invaluable in deciding what to cook.

Bread is often baked at Lammas to celebrate the grain harvest and is the subject of many traditions and superstitions. | Source

Magical Cookery

Preparing a meal to incorporate magic can be carried out in the same way you would any other meal, though there are some things that can help to enhance your magical creations and help to bring the benefits and healing of this craft to our home and family.

Planning your meals ahead of time is not only a useful way to save money by using seasonal ingredients and taking advantage of special offers, but can also allow you to plan for times when magic may be able to help you or give you a little extra comfort or helping hand. This could include specific event such as exams, taking your driving test, attending a funeral or could be used in more general terms for example performing appropriate magic for the moon phase or days of the week/month. Once you have the intention of your magic clear in your head, extend this past just the meal and cooking – think positive and visualise your wishes coming true. You can also use table decorations that correspond to your intent on your table and around the kitchen; this could be based on their colours, any imagery they contain or materials that they are made using, for example. Flowers, candles, plants, tablecloths, napkins and crystals are some ideas of items that you could choose. You may also like to extend this idea to the plates, glasses and cooking utensils that you use in preparing the food.

Choosing the freshest and most natural produce you can will benefit your health, well-being and magical working. | Source

The course of magical cookery starts right from the moment that you are selecting your ingredients. If you have a vegetable garden (however small) this is ideal as you can also grow your fruits and vegetables while incorporating magical intent. You can also be sure of how they have been grown, fed and treated after picking. When buying ingredients always buy the best that you and afford and local naturally grown or fed ingredients are an excellent choice, not only for good energy but as they will be less likely to contain any harmful chemicals and other additives and provide you with excellent nutrition. Store your ingredients hygienically and in relation to type until you are ready to use them.

Before you begin cooking be sure that your kitchen is clean and you have space to work easily. You may wish to light candles, burn incense or evoke elements or deity to ask for their assistance and blessing. Ideal materials for magical cooking are copper, cast iron, glass, ceramic or porcelain and stainless steel. Cast iron has protective properties and cooper can increase energy, especially in relation to love and luck. Glass is a neutral material that will not add its own properties to the food but will openly channel your energy into it.

When preparing the food keep in mind what outcome you want to achieve with you working, keep your mind focused and keep only positive thoughts in mind. You should try not to leave the kitchen to carry out other chores or other things such as watch television as this can lead to you becoming distracted from your magic and your energy becoming mixed or muddled. If you have time where you do not need to be actively tending the food as it cooks this can be used to clear away equipment, wash dishes, meditate on your meal or intent (if this can be carried out safely) or to decorate and set places at the table.

Once your food has finished cooking take the time to focus only on eating and enjoying it rather than watching television at the same time or rushing through it so you can get on with something else. If it fits with your beliefs and practice you may like to thank the universe or deity for the food before you eat it or you can leave a small offering of the food or other item to the household gods, spirits or other entity. Take your time and enjoy every mouthful while visualising your intentions coming into being. If you are eating with other people keep conversations positive and full of good energy.

The final stage of magical cookery is in clearing away after the meal has been finished. Remember that the food is sacred and should not be wasted if at all possible. Store any leftovers safely, clean and put away your dishes and any other equipment and tidy the kitchen and table as needed.